Orally delivered malaria vaccines: not too hard to swallow

Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2004 Oct;4(10):1585-94. doi: 10.1517/14712598.4.10.1585.

Abstract

Vaccines offer efficient and cost-effective protection against a wide range of infectious diseases. Unfortunately, no effective vaccine is yet available against malaria, and this infection remains one of the most important causes of human morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Over the past two decades a number of candidate proteins for inclusion in a subunit vaccine have been identified. Malariologists believe that an effective malaria vaccine will need to include multiple proteins that induce protective immune responses against different stages of the Plasmodium life cycle. The construction of such multivalent vaccines is beset by considerable logistical difficulties, not least of which is how to deliver them to a population living in endemic areas. Compared with other routes of vaccine administration, oral delivery has several advantages that make it an attractive strategy for vaccine development. This review summarises the progress towards an oral vaccine delivery system for malaria and discusses the feasibility of this approach.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Oral
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Protozoan / administration & dosage
  • Antigens, Protozoan / immunology
  • Endocytosis
  • Erythrocytes / parasitology
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Humans
  • ISCOMs / administration & dosage
  • ISCOMs / immunology
  • Immune Tolerance
  • Malaria / prevention & control
  • Malaria Vaccines / administration & dosage*
  • Malaria Vaccines / immunology
  • Malaria Vaccines / pharmacokinetics
  • Mice
  • Particle Size
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Plasmodium / growth & development
  • Plasmodium / immunology
  • Salmonella
  • Vaccination / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Vaccines, DNA / administration & dosage
  • Vaccines, DNA / immunology
  • Vaccines, DNA / pharmacokinetics
  • Vaccines, Synthetic / administration & dosage
  • Vaccines, Synthetic / immunology

Substances

  • Antigens, Protozoan
  • ISCOMs
  • Malaria Vaccines
  • Vaccines, DNA
  • Vaccines, Synthetic